Personal grievances, legal violations: The most common causes of labor disputes

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Every year, thousands of people apply to the Labor Relations Authority to have their labor disputes heard.

The number of applications increased from 1970 in 2022 to 2117 in 2023, but it is almost the same as the number in 2021. The number of issues referred or referred to mediation was 1352.

In the authority’s annual report, it was stated that five basic reasons constitute the majority of labor disputes.

Them:

personal complaints

The number of applications containing personal complaints was more than twice that of other types of complaints.

The most common of these were unfair dismissal complaints, followed by complaints that the employer’s actions resulted in unfair disadvantage for an employee.

In a recent case, a person worked for a kitchen company until he said he was fired when he tried to return to work after taking leave.

He said he had been unfairly dismissed and was seeking compensation for loss of income and hurt feelings.

The employer argued that he was not unfairly dismissed and that he left the job by taking leave.

The official said the employer did not provide him with a written employment contract specifying what would constitute abandonment.

He said he could not prove his actions were justified and there was little or no evidence that the employer investigated his concerns about the leave.

The employee’s concerns were not communicated to him in a way that enabled him to respond fairly, and he was not given the opportunity to comment on whether the dismissal was fair and reasonable.

“These were not minor shortcomings and resulted in (the employee) being treated unfairly; he was not given a fair opportunity to understand or comment on (the employer’s) concerns. Even if he had taken leave as (the employer), with two days’ notice and in the face of objection, he had found that his actions did not meet the test of legal justification.” explains.”

The former employee was awarded $23,100 in lost wages, $16,000 in compensation and $1,848 in vacation pay.

Debts

The next most common cause of complaints was delays.

In one case, a man demanded that his former employer pay him unpaid wages. He said his pay was inadequate when he worked as an acting duty manager at a bar and restaurant in East Auckland.

His employment contract stated that he agreed to work at least 40 hours a week.

When he worked fewer hours, he did not get paid for 40 hours. He said it was open 64.75 hours in a 25-week period.

He said he owed $1726.

The employer argued that 40 hours was not promised.

The terms of employment mean that the employee agrees to devote at least 40 hours a week to the job and must be paid for at least that number of hours, the official said.

“Although there was some disagreement as to whether he was fit to work all the hours mentioned, the evidence was insufficient to prove that he was not ready, willing and able to work the agreed minimum of 40 hours, on the days and hours specified.”

The official said he had the right to take advantage of the shortage.

Violation of legislation

The third most common reason why the authority was asked to make a decision was an alleged breach of legislation.

In a recent case, the labor inspector of the Ministry of Trade, Innovation and Labor referred food companies to the authority for alleged violations of minimum authorizations and standards. A worker was not consistently paid or given minimum rights under the Minimum Wages Act, Holidays Act or Employment Relations Act.

The official said the employer had to pay $53,940 to the worker within 10 working days, including $18,124 of the minimum wage and $35,591 of the annual holiday debt.

Breach of good faith

A midwife who lost her position after allegedly misleading Te Whatu Ora about her interaction with another midwife and commenting on the other midwife’s role has argued that she has been subjected to a breach of good faith.

He was one of approximately 500 applicants who made such claims.

She said her employer had violated her good faith by not informing her of the complaint and by not giving her the opportunity to give feedback that she was reluctant to work with another midwife who was hesitant.

The official stated that the employer violated its obligation of good faith, but was not satisfied that this was at a level that would require a penalty.

However, the midwife received compensation for lost wages and compensation in respect of other aspects of her complaint.

Violation of employment contract

In one case heard by the authorities, a woman claimed that her former employer had breached her employment contract by failing to give her a healthy and safe working contract.

The maximum penalty for this is $20,000.

The breach continued even after it was brought to the attention of the management team, the official said. “In this regard, I find that the breach was intentional, caused ongoing stress and resulted in physical, emotional and financial suffering due to (the employer’s) failure to take any steps to address or correct this situation.”

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